Vol. X.— No. 48. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



381 



of mixed blood, but arc chiefly of native breed and 

 were raised on tlie farm. Three swine only arc 

 kept, fed with tlie refuse of the house, boiled ])o- 

 tatoes, and comi. Tlie annual quantity of pork is 

 about nine hundred pounds. 



BIy cattle in winter are fed chiefly on hay ; 

 milch cows have some meal and vegetables ; and 

 oxen intended for beef the succeeding fall are fed 

 with some grain tlic last of winter. Calves to be 

 raised are suffered to suck one half the uiilk of 

 the cows ten weeks, then put into a good pasture 

 till October, when they arc. put with fattening cut- 

 tle, where they soon learn to eat whatever is given 

 out, and become very vigorous to endure the in- 

 elemcnries of winter. 



About two tons of beef arc made in a year, on 

 grass, green corn-stalks, and refuse hay. Oxen 

 and cows are generally turned oft" to beef for some 

 other reason than the particular age ; and at w hat 

 age it would be most profitable to turn off those 

 of excellent qualities, is a question which has nev- 

 er employed much of my attention. The princi- 

 pal product of my farm is hay, of which ten or 

 fifteen tons are annually put up for sale ; the resi- 

 due is sufKcient to winter twenty five bead of cat- 

 tle ; but the pasture not being equal to the sum- 

 mering of nearly that number, a part of the stock 

 wintered is often sold in the spring. One man 

 :and a lad sixteen years old labor constantly on the 

 farm; in addition to which, day-laborers are fre- 

 quently employed. The present year, twenty 

 acres of the mowing land were put out on a share, 

 and forty da^-s' labor hired. One gallon of rum 

 was used bv' some elderly laborers, wlio have work- 

 ed on the farm more than twenty years in the hay 

 season ; and the owner supposed the cause of tem- 

 perance would be injured rather than promoted, 

 in withholding from these men their accustomed 

 po'rtion, who never in their lives, to his knowledge, 

 drank to intoxication. Respectfully submitted, 



WORRILL ALLEN. 



Pbjmouth, ss. Pembroke, jYov. 21, 18.31. — Per- 

 sonally appeared before me, the above named Mor- 

 rill Allen, and made oath that the above statement 

 by him subscribed, was true, according to his best 

 knowledge and belief. 



KiLBOEX Whitman, Justice of Peace. 



Lot J, fifteen acres, part in a rough state, part 

 too much cropped. 



Lot 2, sixteen acres, much the same as the above. 



Lot 3, seven acres, meadow, fresh meadow. 



Lot 4, small lot from a pasture. 



Four acres are light sandy soil ; six acres hard 

 loam, suitable for grain and grass; five, a dark fri- 

 able soil ; fifteen, argillaceous ; ten, irrigated fresh 

 meadow. 



This year, three acres of loam and four acres of 

 sandy soil were planted with corn. 



On one acre of loamy land, six cord of manure 

 wore idoughed in. On one acre of sandv, six 

 casks lime ; in other years, meadow mud had been 

 put ill. 



On the other fields which produced rye the ])re- 

 ceding year, no manure. 



Corn planted in drills, gathered 298-i-l hush- 

 els 424. ' ^ 



Nine acres in tillage, corn and rye alternately, 

 excepting once in five or six years a crop of pota- 

 toes or beans. 



The stubble of rye is ploughed in immediately 

 after taking of}' the crop, and some kind of seed is 

 applied to produce herbage. 



From 200 to 300 bushels potatoes, his average 

 crop lor three or four years past. 



Mows thirtytwo acres, twenty of which has been 

 [iloughed, yields good English bay. 



Ten acres of irrigated meadow, and two acres 

 of fresh meadow. 



1S27. 33,^ tons of hay, first quality. 



10 do. second quality. 



14| fresh hay. 



58 

 Sand principal ingredient for clayey, and swamp 

 mud ill sandy loose soil, 300 to 500 loads, in au- 

 tumn. 



ALTERNATE HUSBANDRY. 



There are few stronger indications of bad hus- 

 bandry, to a secluded mind, than are furnished by 

 the advertisements for the sale of farms. "Suit- 

 ably divided into meadow, pasture, and plough 

 land," are common recommendations, showing that 

 the old system still prevails, of assigning to each 

 of those objects a portion of the farm in perpe- 

 tuity ; in despite of the example of better husband- 

 ry, and the admonitions of common sense. No 

 meadows will bear cutting many successive years 

 without deteriorating in quantity and generally in 

 quality. No la»nd can be subjected to perpetual 

 tillage, without a greater supply of manure than 

 most farmers are able to give it. The grasses will 

 run out in the one, and fertility become exhausted 

 in the other. There are comparatively few mea- 

 dows, which, if drained (and if wet they v.ill pro- 

 duce fine grasses) will not yield good grain, roots 

 or pulse. And there is no tillage la-d but will 

 produce grass. Alternation of crops is the main 

 spring of profitable farming. Grass and grain are 

 in this way made to benefit each other. The roots 

 and haulm of the grass become food for tlie grain ; 

 while the culture of grain pulverizes and amelior- 

 ates the soil for the succeeding crop of grass. 



Good economy requires that the meadow should 

 berplougbed, and the ploughed land stocked witli 

 grass, whenever a manifest diminution in the crop 

 is perceptible. Upon light soils, when even well 

 managed, this will ordinarily happen once in eve- 

 ry three or four years. Experience must have 

 shown every farmer, that he cannot raise a good 

 crop of wheat, of corn, or of flax, &c, upon the 

 same field for several years in succession. And 

 why ? Because every species of plant takes from 

 the soil a specific food, which other species do not 

 take. The same law applies to grasses and grains, 

 with this difference, that grain consumes more 

 than grass of the food common to both, and there- 

 fore sooner imjiovcrishes the soil. J. B. 



FARM. 



A writer in the Massachusetts Agricultural Re- 

 pository, vol. V. page 320, in treating " on the ex- 

 ttnt of land necessary for a farm, and suflicient to 

 support a family well atfd independently," has the 

 following among other valuable remarks: — "We 

 know men, active, intelligent and industrious, pos- 

 sessed of 30 or 40 acres of land, who are laborino- 

 for others oij taking charge of their neighbors' con- 

 cerns, upon the avowed reason, that they cannot 

 support their families on so small an extent of land. 

 But they do not realize the actual efiiciency of the 

 soil. Undoubtedly there are many honorable ex- 

 ceptions to the observation we are about to make • 



as a general rule, however, it may be asserted, that 

 the farmers of Massachusetts are yet to learn the im- 

 mense prodvciive poiver of a perfectly cidtivaied acre. 

 Instead of seeking riches in augmenting the num- 

 ber of their acres, let them be sought in better 

 modes of husbandry. As a general truth, we be- 

 lieve it may be asserted, that every farmer in Mas- 

 sachusetts, possessed of one hundred acres of land, 

 might divide them fairly, by quantity and quality, 

 into thirds, and by a suilAble cultivation make 

 cither third more productive than his whole hun- 

 dred acres are at present. This is the operation 

 at which those interested in the agricuhure of 

 Massachusetts ought to aim, to make fanners real- 

 ize what cultivation can effect, and to teach the 

 modes by which the productive power of the soil 

 can best be elicited." 



FARMER. 



It is indispensable for the success of every un- 

 dertaking, that a sufficient capital to carry it on, 

 should be at command ; and for that of farming in 

 particular. When there is any deficiency with 

 respect to that imjiortant particular, the farmer 

 cannot derive sufficient profit from his exertions; 

 for he may often be obliged to dispose of his crops 

 at an undervalue, to procure ready money ; or he 

 may be prevented from purchasing the articles he 

 may require, though a favorable opportiaiity may 

 present itself. An industrious, frugal, and intelli- 

 gent farmer, who is punctual in his payments, and 

 hence in good credit, will strive with many difB- 

 culties and get on with less money, than a man of 

 a different character. But if he has not sufficient 

 stock to work his laud properly, nor sufficiency of 

 cattle to raise manure, nor money to purchase the 

 articles he ought to possess, lie must, under ordin- 

 ary circumstances, live in a st.ate of penury and 

 hard labor ; and on the first unfavorable season, 

 or other incidental misfortune, he will probably 

 sink under the weight of his accumulated burdens. 

 In general, farmers are apt to begin with too small 

 a capital. They are desirous of taking large farms, 

 without possessing the means of cultivating them. 

 This is a great en-or ; for it makes many a person 

 poor, upon a large farm, who might live in com- 

 fort and acquire property upon a small one. 'No 

 tenant can be secure without a surplus at com- 

 mand, not only for defraying the common expen- 

 ses of labor, but in case any untoward circum- 

 stance should occur. When a farmer on the oth- 

 er hand, farms within his capital, he is enabled to 

 embrace every favorable opportunity of buying 

 with advantage, while he is not compelled, if the 

 markets are low, to sell with loss. — Codeof.igricul. 



Caterpillars. — We have on no former occasion, 

 noticed the fruit trees so universally overrun with 

 caterjjillars as the present season. Aside from 

 this circumstance, the prospect of fruit, apples es- 

 pecially, is remarkably good. We therefore hope 

 that our farmers may be on the alert, and not suf- 

 fer the bounties which otherwise would be confer- 

 red on them by Providence, to be lost for the want 

 of little care and attention. A kw hours would 

 suffice to ckar a considerable orchard of these 

 marauders, and thus to save much valuable fruit 

 which must otherwise inevitably be lost. — .Ms. Spy. 



Willows absorb moisture. This is true, but they 

 emit a large portion which they draw from the 

 earth, in perspiration. V.'illows planted near 

 houses, on the side of springs or brooks, arc apt 

 to introduce fever and ague. 



